Stay With Me
by Alphabetical Writer
Summary: "Linda," he said softly as he grabbed hold of her hand again,"Stay with me, please." "I can't Lee," she sobbed quietly, "I can't. I've hurt you so, so much. I can't possibly accept your affection now." "Perhaps you've hurt me Linda, but I've hurt you too. We've both lowered ourselves to where we're still equals." A Leander Hastings and Linda Downey one-shot


**Because I'm strangely obsessed with this couple and annoyed at their lack of romantic interaction (though I'd find it strange if they started calling each other pet names or something weird) I've written this one-shot. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Everyone had just gotten back to Trinity from Second Sister. Madison immediately separated from the gang, rejecting Seph's attempts to escort her home. Ellen seemed to still be a bit mad at Jack for as soon as everyone returned to Becka's house she went straight home. Jack had jogged after her and stopped her on the porch to talk. That left Linda, Seph, Jason, and Hastings to face Becka.  
As soon as Jack had run out the door, Becka came downstairs. The first person she saw was Linda, then the deathly pale Hastings, and lastly the bruised and exhausted Seph. Without verbally posing the obvious question, Becka looked to her sister for an explanation.

"In the morning, please Becka," Linda asked desperately, "I'll explain it all in the morning." Becka did another look over of everyone before nodding her head.

She looked at Jason.

"Do you need to stay here for the night?" She asked.

"Oh, um, thanks but I'll just find a hotel or something," Jason kindly rejected.

"You look awfully hurt. I don't think a hotel will let a boy who's covered in bruises in. We have an extra room you can use."

"Uh, it's fine really," Jason said, putting his hands up in defense. Linda sent him a pleading glance to just take the offer because he wasn't going to leave here unless he took it. "Nevermind, I'll, uh, stay. Thank you, Mrs. Swift."

"It's actually Ms. Downey, but we don't need to discuss that nonsense now. Where's Jack?" Becka motioned for everyone to sit at the kitchen table.

Linda decided it'd be easier to stand with Hastings than sit. "He and Ellen are talking on the porch. They had a small disagreement about something."

"Is that something part of the reason you all look horrible?" Becka went to prepare drinks for everyone.

"Yes. You don't have to make drinks for us, Becka. It's fine. Leander needs to just rest, and I'm sure the same goes for the rest of the boys." She shifted Leander, who could already be asleep, to make her more comfortable. His head was drooping near her shoulder, the only indication of him not being completely unconscious was that he was supporting himself as much as he could by placing his hand on the counter they were leaning against. "Seph, honey, you can go to our house and sleep there for the night. I'll be there later."

Seph nodded, rubbing his head as if he had a massive headache. He stood, said bye to Becka, stared at Linda and Hastings for a second, and left. Jack came in moments later looking somewhat angry.

"Jack!" Becka called as she ran to her son and threw her arms around him.

"Hey, mom," He replied as he hugged her back. Linda looked away. She gave had given up moments like these for Seph's sake, which in the end proved useless.

"Linda..." Hastings suddenly murmured incredibly softly into her ear, causing her to tense. She felt his hand brush against hers weakly.

"Goodnight then, Becka. I'll explain everything in the morning, I swear." Linda wrapped her arm around Hastings' waist and led him to Nick's room. The old wizard would surely be up, especially since he was well aware of what had happened that day. "Nick?" She called as she and Hastings slowly made their way up the stairs.

"Linda? How was the meeting?" Nick asked as he looked to the top of the stairs. He stood from his seat when he saw her supporting Hastings, both covered in bruises. "My god, what happened?" He rushed over and helped keep Hastings up.

"Leicester tried to kill him- and he almost _did_- but Lee managed to throw up a weak shield. He said he had a torc draining his power for a few days, and that he barely managed to throw up a shield," Linda explained, not realizing tears had started to stream down her cheeks. Nick acted as though he didn't see her crying. They placed Hastings in Nick's bed. Linda felt his hand brush against hers again, seeming to attempt to grasp her.

"It looks like he just needs his power to return, which I'm guessing will take an entire day. He should be fine by tomorrow." Nick said he'd prepare something for Hastings to drink when he woke up, leaving Linda alone with him.

It was awkward to say the least. She didn't know what to say nor what to do. She felt indebted to him, for saving their son. For his first instinct when chaos broke out was to make sure she was behind him and safe. For not letting himself be killed. There were so many things she wanted to thank him for, so many things that she wanted to say. When she had watched him hit the floor in front of her, her world froze.

And now here she was, standing by his bed, unsure of what to say or do. She wiped away her tears as she stood. She fixed the blanket and pillow for him, trying to make him as comfortable as possible. She sat down for the rest of the time, examining his features. She knew them so well. His dark, curly hair that only made his tall figure and sharp face more intimidating. His mouth that was always pressed in a small frown, but on the rare occasion a beautiful smile. Linda smiled to herself as memories of the two of them rushed through her head.

"Linda? Would you like to talk about what happened in the kitchen and let Hastings here rest?" Nick asked as he came back into the room with a tea looking substance. Linda's cheeks were slightly pink from the memory reel she had played out in her head.

"Yes, of course," Linda agreed as she stood. She followed Nick into the kitchen and explained everything to him starting from when Seph and Madison had been kidnapped in the boat.

* * *

Three hours later, at three in the morning, after just finishing her story, Linda asked the one question she had wanted to ask ever since she sat down. "Will Lee be alright? Will he still be as strong as he was before?"

Nick pondered on the question, and Linda's expression, before answering the question. "You can ask him yourself when he wakes up. If you want, you can go back in there and check on him. Though, you look exhausted yourself. You should get some rest too."

"Thank you Nick," Linda smiled softly as she went back to the room Hastings was in. When she opened the door, to her surprise and disbelief, Hastings was sitting up in the bed reading a book. He looked her way when the door opened, his expression becoming unreadable.

"Linda," he greeted and nodded to the seat she had sat in earlier. She shut the door awkwardly and took the seat by him.

She needed something to talk about. Anything. "Did we wake you?"

Hastings shook his head. "No, I just woke up about ten minutes ago and decided to try reading myself back to sleep." He put the book on the bedside table as his expression turned serious. "Linda," he said," I have something I wish to discuss with you." He looked her directly in the eyes.

"Okay," Linda replied cautiously, searching his eyes for an answer to her own questions of confusion.

Hastings weakly grasped both of Linda's hands in his own and looked at her intensely.

"Today, when I literally felt death's breath on my neck, I realized that I had one incomplete thing in my life. There was something, more like _someone, _who I wasn't ready to leave. For the first time in my life, I regretted my thought that I'd accept my death. I've only experienced true love once, and it was for only three short months. And then, after we had said who knows how many times we loved each other, the person left. I was devastated. I searched for them for over a year, nearly driving myself insane. And then for sixteen years- _sixteen _long, _long_ years- I never see the person. Not a word, not a photo. As far as I knew, they were more than likely dead. They constantly clouded my thoughts, and just the memory of them could ruin my entire day. It was the worst wound ever losing them."

"Lee..." Linda murmured as tears began to form. He grasped her hands as tightly as he could.

"Then, one day, I get a call from them. I couldn't even begin to contain myself. It was a miracle I had acted so calm when I talked to them. I told myself I'd see them again, that I had been wrong all these years. What did I have to do? I needed to train their nephew, Jackson Swift, so the Roses wouldn't capture him. But under any circumstance, as long as I could just _see_ this person who I've missed for _years_, I would have gone. So I went immediately, and yet, the one person I was expecting wasn't there. They weren't anywhere. I felt broken, just as I had sixteen years before. The idea that they had been so close to me had stirred up emotions that were long-lost. Perhaps that was why I was more carefree than usual." Hastings smiled weakly. "Then there's the Trade appearing at Jack's school, and the shock of me seeing this person for the first time is overwhelming. I'm speechless. I had suddenly come so _damn _close to the brightest star in the sky. I had finally seen _them_, the one person in the entire world I loved the most. And I'm damn stupid enough to provoke them into hating me, at least make them remember who I am. I tried so hard to make their feelings resurface. Mines had long reappeared, but I wasn't aware of it. And all throughout this entire mess I've created myself, I dig my grave deeper and deeper with them, making them absolutely despise me. But the feeling wasn't one-sided. They had their own secrets, bigger ones than any I carried with me. Sixteen years ago, they had run away, _pregnant_ with _our child_. I had been a father without even knowing. I never found out until my son had been kidnapped. They claimed it was for the better that our son's parentage not be known, but that turned to not prove helpful. I went to save my son, not for me but for them. I couldn't stand to see them upset, no matter how I felt. The deal wasn't as true as we thought, though we all figured that. I hadn't a clue how they would react when they heard I supposedly killed our son with my own hands. I thought about it and ways to apologize to them until I was brought out of the cellar. I saw them, with a mask of indifference hiding their true feelings. I found it hilarious, but when it faltered upon seeing me, I remembered the sin they believed I committed. I couldn't bring myself to look, to even _pretend _that I didn't know what they were thinking. And then Leicester planned on killing me, but I had suspected it all along. But then they spoke up, rightfully claiming the title that I had falsely been accused of holding. I had never been more angry with them in my whole life, but I suppose that was only because they were out of it for so long. And then chaos broke out, and I couldn't let Leicester kill them. I would already be dead if they took their life. But when I was hit, the last thing I had seen was them. Their look of mortal terror and complete despair. That was when I thought to myself, 'I don't want to die like this. I want to live to see tomorrow, to see their expression another day. To tell me that I'm not immortal and my antics will get me killed one day.' And then I was in their arms, and I could see death looking over their shoulder. Then another thought occurred to me, 'Do they know how I feel? How much I love them? How painful it's going to be for me to be away from them forever, to be nothing but an empty soul without them?' I couldn't die, Linda. You make me want to live forever. As long as you're here, and whether you don't love me or not, I will always love you."

"Lee-" Linda began but was cut off by her own sobbing.

"Linda Downey, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Because of our past, this might make things even more difficult between us, but I want to chase after you again. I want your love all for myself, just like it once was. I want us to fall back in love, just like before." Hastings pressed Linda's hand against his cheek. "Linda," he whispered softly, "may I kiss you?"

Linda was frozen. She had taken her other hand out of his grasp to wipe away her tears, trying to think of anything to say. After a moment of nothing but her sniffling, she nodded slowly. He moved his hand to softly cup her cheek before slowly leaning forward, his gaze never shifting from her golden eyes. She stared teary-eyed back at him as their lips connected. It was such a gentle kiss, yet it carried so much emotion that Linda broke into tears all over again. So many memories from the past came back to her that she could barely contain herself from balling up and crying. She melted against the feeling of him against her, kissing him back as gently as he kissed her.  
Hastings had pressed his tongue against her lips carefully, to which she tenaciously opened her mouth to welcome him. Their tongues danced together slowly, neither wanting to ruin the perfect moment. It felt like they weren't in Nick's old apartment bedroom anymore, as if they had long left Trinity, Ohio and were revisiting the places of their past. From house to house, room to room, to where they first met and the last night before Linda had left him. The feeling of his lips against hers was spontaneous, something she had hungered for, for sixteen years.

Finally, Hastings broke the kiss off and rested his forehead against hers, both of them were breathing heavier than before, but neither were out of breath. He closed his eyes, looking as calm as ever. However, Linda was a complete mess. She was in tears, the constant phrases 'you don't deserve any of this' and 'you left him' clouding her head. Did she deserve Lee's affection? After all the pain and frustration she had caused him? The guilt was eating at her, beating down the joy she felt from his words. Slowly, she unraveled herself from his embrace and turned away from him. His eyes shot open at her movements, but he didn't object until she had stood to leave.

"Linda," he said softly as he grabbed hold of her hand again,"Stay with me, please."

"I can't Lee," she sobbed quietly, "I can't. I've hurt you so, _so _much. I can't possibly accept your affection now."

He tugged her back to him, into his arms. She buried her face in his chest and cried, pressing her hands against his chest.

"Perhaps you've hurt me Linda, but I've hurt you too. We've both lowered ourselves to where we're still equals. Never think yourself as undeserving, because _no one _in this world who you don't deserve. You're an amazing woman, Linda Downey."

Linda sniffled. "Thank you so much, Lee."

And with that, the two fell asleep together, leaving a not-so-surprised Nick to find them in the morning. He always knew they belonged with each other. No one else in the world would be able to handle these two except for each other. Nick let them sleep until they woke up on their own, not wanting to interrupt their re-connection.

* * *

**Wooh that was a lot. Now if only Miss Chima could see this, and take the hint that we _need _more Linda Downey and Leander Hastings moments! Of course, that's only to please about two tenths of the fans. Still, I want someone's name to be Linda Hastings. Since there's at least one party in every book, the wedding would be the best because hellooo it's a wedding-**

**Whoops someone turned on my fangirl switch. Better turn that back to OFF. Anyways, I was looping "Stay With Me" By Sam Smith while writing this because that song is a cold bottle of water in the hot desert that you've been trudging through for four hours. So you can tell that by looking in the writing sometimes. (Listened to it like 100 times, not even lying)**

**P.S. If any of my Beelzebub pals are reading this, I 1) strongly suggest you read the Heir Series by Cinda Williams Chima and 2) keep this on the DL (down low).**

**I'm sorry if this sounds weird I've been up like all night typing this because I've been imagining it for like three months but never wrote it down because I'm lazy.**

**Later**

**_ABC_  
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